Just how Apps Like WhatsApp, WeChat Helps Make Money While Offering Free Texting And Calling7657255
Ever thought just how a messaging app can make money while offering free texting and calling? WhatsApp users within India may be surprised to know there is far more to messaging apps than communicating. Here is how: by offering services for example digital payments, online shopping and also content.
China's WeChat is just about the best example of the great opportunity which messaging apps hold. With well over Nine hundred million monthly active users, WeChat enables them do everything from messaging, buying grocery, hailing cabs, purchasing online food and also offline payments at restaurants - all of this without having to go to another app. These types of services not just offer the company incredible customer stickiness, they also create a remarkable revenue model.
For now, WeChat's competition outside China including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Viber and also Line are behind the curve on this front, even though some have begun on the road to becoming larger platforms. "The reason chat apps are expanding beyond communications is to create a lasting monetisation strategy," said Neha Dharia, a senior analyst with a focus on messaging at London-based research firm Ovum. "Chat apps are moving from being simply a provider of communication tools chat, voice and also video) to becoming a platform for the exchange of services, payment mechanisms and also content consumption." WhatsApp, the largest messaging app on the planet with 1.3 billion monthly active users, introduced a business version in India early on this week. "Based on research, we realize that people are utilizing WhatsApp to speak to businesses. make business messaging more convenient for folks and much more efficient for businesses," a WhatsApp spokesperson said in response to ET's questions. Whatsapp Business is a different app from Whatsapp Messenger, aimed largely at giving a direct communication platform to small enterprises, the majority of who may be using WhatsApp already.
While Whatsapp has kept the service free, it could broaden it to much larger businesses with added features for example analytics, in which it may well charge a usage fee at a later stage, therefore making a revenue model, segment watchers said. This also is geared at increasing subscriber connect which it can leverage for future monetization of its other services. The larger agenda - and a more crucial one - for these firms is to get active users to invest much more time on the app or services and also make it viable for profit generation, based on analysts.
"Every technology company is competing for consumer stickiness, interaction and also time spent on the app, and in order to keep them within the app's ecosystem they're broadening themselves to turn into platforms. Merely being messaging apps that offer free services won't be a strong revenuegeneration model," said Jayanth Kolla, founding father of Bengaluru-based research firm Convergence Catalyst.
